The Native Arts and Cultures Foundation (NACF) is a 501(c)(3)

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

that supports Native American artists, culture bearers, and Native-led arts organizations, providing them with support through fellowships and project funding. This philanthropic organization exclusively supports American Indian, Alaska Native, and

Native Hawaiian Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawa ...

arts and cultures in the United States.

Founding and history

The Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, founded in 2008, is funded by contributions from the public, foundations, corporations, and affiliated organizations. It was launched with a $10 million commitment from the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

, following a feasibility study demonstrating the need and interest in such an endowment. The Rumsey Band of Wintun Indians near Sacramento, California, committed an additional $1.5 million. Walter Echo-Hawk (Pawnee) was the founding Chairman of the Board of Directors. Other founding board members were

Joy Harjo Joy Harjo ( ; born May 9, 1951) is an American poet, musician, playwright, and author. She served as the 23rd United States Poet Laureate, the first Native American to hold that honor. She was also only the second Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetr ...

(Muscokee) poet and musician; Elizabeth Woody (Warm Springs/Wasco/Navajo), writer and cultural specialist from the Warm Springs Reservation; Marshall McKay (Wintun), Chairman of the Rumsey Rancheria; Letitia Chambers, a private consultant of Cherokee descent, and

Buffy St. Marie Buffy Sainte-Marie, (born Beverly Sainte-Marie, February 20, 1941) is an Indigenous Canadian-American (Piapot Cree Nation) singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. While working in these are ...

(Piapot Cree), the singer/activist.

Artist Fellowships

The NACF awards several Fellowships for Native American Artists working in both traditional and contemporary arts. These include the National Artist Fellowship, Regional Arts Fellowships, and the Mentor Artist Fellowship. As of 2019, the Foundation has supported over 300 individual artists and arts organizations spanning 32 states.

Mentor Artist Fellows

2018 * Aurolyn Renee Stwyer * Bryan Akipa * Jason Garcia * Kathleen Carlo Kendall *

Lily Hope Lily Hope (born 1980) is an Alaska Native artist, designer, teacher, weaver, Financial Freedom planner, and community facilitator. She is primarily known for her skills at weaving customary Northwest Coast ceremonial regalia such as Chilkat robes a ...

* Lisa Telford * Patrick William Kruse * Will Wilson 2017 * Cara Romero * Delbert “Smutcoom” Miller * Delina White *

Dyani White Hawk Dyani White Hawk (full name Dyani White Hawk Polk) (born 1976) is a contemporary artist and curator of Sicangu Lakota, German, and Welsh ancestry based out of Minnesota. From 2010 to 2015, White Hawk was a curator for the Minneapolis gallery All M ...

* Jackson Polys * Lani Hotch * Laura Wong-Whitebear *

Nicholas Galanin Nicholas Galanin (pronounced gah-LANN-in) is a Tlingit and Unangax̂ multi-disciplinary artist and musician from Alaska. His work often explores a dialogue of change and identity between Native and non-Native communities. Background Nicholas Gal ...

* Royce Manuel * Shirod Younker * TahNibaa Naataanii * Wayne “Minogiizhig” Valliere

National Artist Fellows

2018 * Allison Akootchook Warden * Anthony Hudson / Carla Rossi * Bently Spang * Brian Adams * Cary Morin * Ciara Leina`ala Lacy * Courtney M. Leonard * Elizabeth Woody * Frank Waln * Heid E. Erdrich * Jeff Peterson *

Jim Denomie Jim Denomie (1955 – March 1, 2022) was an American Ojibwe painter, known for his colorful, at times comical, looks at United States history and Native Americans. Background Early life A member of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superi ...

* Kalani Pe’a *

Linda Infante Lyons Linda Anne Infante Lyons (born 1960) is a Native American visual media artist from Anchorage, Alaska. She is Alutiiq, with her mother's family descending from Kodiak Island, and Estonian. The island's natives experienced two waves of colonizatio ...

Luci Tapahonso Luci Tapahonso (born November 8, 1953) is a Navajo poet and a lecturer in Native American Studies. She is the first poet laureate of the Navajo Nation, succeeded by Laura Tohe. Early life and education Tapahonso was born on the Navajo reservati ...

* Marques Hanalei Marzan * Melissa S. Cody * Michael Wasson * Pōhaku Kaho`ohanohano * RYAN! Feddersen 2016 * Aaron J. Sala * Brenda Mallory * Bunky Echo-Hawk * Cannupa Hanska Luger *

Erica Tremblay Erica Tremblay (born 1980) is a Native American ( Seneca–Cayuga) documentary film director, based out of New York City known for her films '' In the Turn'' (2014), ''Heartland: A Portrait of Survival'' (2012) and ''Tiny Red Universe (2007)'' as ...

* Kelli Jo Ford * Laura Ortman * Luzene Hill * Mark Keali`i Ho`omalu * Mateo Romero * Preston Singletary * Susan Power * Thea Hopkins * Theresa Secord * Tiokasin Ghosthorse * TJ Young 2015 * Anna Tsouhlarakis * Clarissa Rizal * David A. Boxley * Frank Big Bear * James Luna *

Kelly Church Kelly Jean Church ( Match-e-benash-she-wish Potawatomi/Odawa/Ojibwe) is a black ash basket maker, Woodlands style painter, birchbark biter, and educator. Background Kelly Church, a fifth-generation basket maker, was born in 1967. She grew up ...

* Laura Da’ * Layli Long Soldier * Lehua Kalima * Linda Hogan * Martha Redbone * Starr Kalāhiki * Stephen Qacung Blanchett

Upper Midwest Artist Fellowships

2015 * Amelia Cornelius * April Stone * Bennett Brien *

Maggie Thompson Maggie Thompson (born Margaret Curtis; November 29, 1942), is an American longtime editor of the now-defunct comic book industry news magazine ''Comics Buyer's Guide'', science fiction fan, and collector of comics. Early life Margaret (nicknam ...

Pat Kruse Patrick Karl Kruse (born 30 November 1953) is an English former professional footballer who is best remembered for his five-year spell in the Football League with Brentford, for whom he made over 200 appearances as a centre back. Kruse is kno ...

2014 * Delina White * Jennifer M. Stevens *

Kevin Pourier Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant ''Kevan'' is anglicized from , an ...

* Star Wallowing Bull

References

{{Authority control 501(c)(3) organizations 2008 establishments in the United States Arts organizations established in 2008 Native American culture Native American organizations Non-profit organizations based in Washington (state)